When Charlie, a 10-year-old Maine coon mix, arrived at Marin Humane, he was frustrated by his confinement and leery of people. It was clear this beautiful boy needed time to learn to trust again.

Off he went to the home of behavior foster Shirley Sugawara. She gave him the time he needed to come out of his shell, while also keeping him entertained indoors. Charlie improved so much under Shirley’s care that he’s now back at the shelter and ready for his forever home. Without Shirley, he might still be growling at every visitor from the corner of his room.

This is the power of behavior fosters. Foster parents take shelter animals into their homes to give them a break from the often-stressful shelter. Behavior fosters take that commitment to the next level, helping animals who need extra time and attention before they’re ready for adoption.

Many of these fosters have opted not to have any animals of their own and instead open their homes to those dogs and cats that badly need a safe place to land. Others have gentle resident pets that help shelter animals feel safer or teach them how to socialize.

Suzanne Gollin, Marin Humane’s foster coordinator, says the most important part of being a behavior foster is patience. “They also need to work with our behavior team to learn what the animal needs, and should have a keen eye to watch the animal’s body language and changes in their behavior.”

When Christie Wrinkley, a terrified little Chihuahua, first arrived at Marin Humane, she hid under a blanket and refused to come out. She’d been rejected by a number of other rescue organizations because she was so shut down. But adoptions manager and foster parent Catherine Tryon wasn’t about to let her hide forever. She brought Christie Wrinkley home, where she and her own dog taught the skittish pup that the world could be a safe, fun place. Tryon was gentle with Christie and took her everywhere so she’d be exposed to lots of sights, sounds and smells. “She came out from hiding, started to wag her tail, was friendly with the animals in my home and relaxed enough to actually start playing,” she says. The gradual improvements added up and now Christie Wrinkley is ready to find her forever home.

As an open door shelter, Marin Humane sees every type of animal behavior issue. Some shelters may turn these dogs and cats away, and others might deem them “unadoptable.” Thanks to our behavior fosters, we’re able to give these animals the time and space they need to grow and transform into happy, adoptable pets.

If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent for a shelter animal, the first step is to attend one of our monthly volunteer orientations. To sign up or to learn more, go to marinhumane.org.

Julia Lamont is the social media and marketing coordinator at Marin Humane which contributes Tails of Marin articles and welcomes animal-related questions and stories about the people and animals in our community. Go to MarinHumaneSociety.org, Twitter.com/marinhumane, or email lbloch@marinhumane.org.